The London Evening Standard says Chelsea stepped up their pursuit of Mourinho, who will leave Real Madrid in May, after their other main target, Klopp, chose to stay with Borussia Dortmund.

Significantly, Mourinho has been in London over the past few days and Rui Sa Lemos, the youth team coach he worked with when in charge of Porto, has claimed on Twitter that the 50-year-old will be Chelsea manager again next season.